IDEU seminar - Adeno-associated virus and hepatitis: cause or bystander?

Monday, 22 June 2026, 1pm to 2pm

Summary: Adeno Associated Virus and Hepatitis; Cause or Bystander?
The discovery of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) in cases of acute hepatitis and liver failure in young children was initially thought to be incidental, with adenovirus infections originally implicated as the true cause. .Subsequent work has revealed similarities between naturally occurring AAV2 associated hepatitis and the hepatitis that is described in recipients of AAV-vectored gene therapies (AAV-GT). To better understand the pathogenesis of these conditions, we undertook detailed characterisation of samples from children with severe hepatitis in the 2022 outbreak linked to AAV2, and children who have received AAV-GT for spinal muscular atrophy. Our results reveal many similarities between the two conditions, and confirm the key role played by AAV in their pathogenesis.


Bio: Judith Breuer is Professor of Virology at UCL and Clinical lead for Virology at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Professor Breuer led the discovery of AAV2 as the cause of the paediatric hepatitis outbreak affecting >1000 children worldwide in 2022. She has gone on to investigate further the pathogenesis of AAV hepatitis both in natural infection and associated with rAAV gene therapy. She established the first ISO15189 accredited metagenomics service in the UK and Europe and now leads programmes to increase the roll out of diagnostic metagenomics nationally and has pioneered the use of pathogen genomics for understanding evolution transmission and pathogenesis particularly of viral infections. Professor Breuer chairs and is a member of several national government and UKHSA committees on vaccines and infection.

Speaker(s): Professor Judith Breuer

Series: IDEU Infectious Disease Seminar Series

Venue: Big Data Institute - Seminar rooms - Seminar rooms Big Data Institute Old Road Campus Oxford Oxfordshire OX3 7LF United Kingdom

Department: Nuffield Department of Population Health (Department)

Organiser: Professor Angela Brueggemann

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